. >> narrator: the new republicans in congress were threatening to vote against raising the debt ceiling. if congress didn't act by august 2, the federal government would be unable to pay its bills. >> in 2010, when all these republicans were running for congress, ma of em awed tea partiers and the rest of them riding the tea party wave, the subject of the impending debt ceiling came up frequently and virtually all of them campaigned saying... pledging not to raise the debt ceiling. >> narrator: early on, republican freshmen attended orientation sessions. republican strategist frank luntz ran one of them. >> and i asked the question, how many of you are going to vote for the debt ceiling? and only three or four of them raised their hands. and i said, if you vote for the debt ceiling, the people who put you in office are going to knock you out. >> if you vote for the debt ceiling, you're voting for your own death certificate, political death certificate. >> narrator: for his part, the president decided to try something new: personal politics. he figured he could connect to the republican